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If so, sign up for the new Secrets from Silicon Valley series, a week of free classes taught by luminaries like LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Check out a partial list of teachers here — you’ll recognize a lot of them.

Every three months, I ship out a box of amazing physical products, along with two personal letters explaining everything: a physical letter and a video “letter.”  

One of the latter is above.  I do *not* plan on including these the blog, but giving an example is fun.

The theme of these quarterly mailings is obsession–I include the ideas and objects I can’t get out of my head.

Obsessions enter my life from all over the place.  Currently, my gadgets and gear recommendations are coming from Cirque du Soleil performers, chess prodigies, Fortune 500 CEOs, and military snipers.  It’s the randomness that makes it fun.

More than 1,500 people subscribe to these boxes through Quarterly.co. They are opening up 1,000 more spots for my next shipment, if of interest.

Here are the goodies from the latest:

1. Spectacle by David Rockwell with Bruce Mau ($49.95 retail, $33.94 Amazon)

2. Edible Green Tea ($25 retail)

3. LSTN Earbuds ($50 retail) Get 20% off by using the code “Quarterly” at check out!

4. AMRAP Refuel Bars ($23.95 retail, $23.90 Amazon)

5. Creative Whack Pack ($16 retail, $11.30 Amazon)

6. $20 DonorsChoose.org Gift Card

7. Hacker Credit Card, Mini Work Tool ($7.95 retail, $8 Amazon)

8. Alpha BRAIN ($35 retail)

Want to get the next box? First come, first served here.

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Some of the feedback so far (more here):

Joshua Millage - @jmillage – on 26 May

WOW @tferriss #TIM02 spanked #TIM01 if you keep this up – Im guessing we will be getting Ferraris in our boxes soon. THANKS!

Scott Miller – @Scotchmo – on 28 May

@tferriss Tim02 box arrived LSTN headphones sound great, and I am a headphone snob! Thanks Tim! #tim02

Will Lenzen Jr - @wlenzenjr – on 30 May

Blown away by the quality & thought put into what @tferriss included in #TIM02 of @Quarterly. Thanks Tim! pic.twitter.com/fdLoidRF7u

Want to explore further?  Here are the Twitter handles for all the above, in alphabetical order:

Alpha BRAIN by Onnit Labs – @Onnit
AMRAP Nutrition – @AMRAPUSA
Donors Choose gift card – @DonorsChoose
Eat Green Tea – @eatgreentea
LSTN headphones – @LSTN
Mini work tool is created by BCB International – @bcbin
Spectacle, by David Rockwell and Bruce Mau - @labatrockwell, @brucemaudesign
Whack Pack, creator Roger von Oech – @RogervonOech

This Random Show episode was an experiment via Google Hangout. The show starts around 11:00 if you want to skip the preamble and dumb-assery.

Here are just two of many, many links mentioned in the show:
Jacked – The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto
Cozy (start-up)

See the bottom of this post for show notes and more links, courtesy of reader Robin of MoveAutism. Thank you, Robin!

Two requests:
- Please let us know what you think of this experimental format!
- If you’d like to see what stuff I’m using or pining after, follow me here.

For all previous episodes of The Random Show, including the epic China Scam episode, click here.

Now, all the show notes and links…

Random Show Notes (6/5/13)

6:20 – What’s this show all about?
11:00 – Tim shows a wine (that he clearly likes) and the show begins.

Kevin Rose’s App of the Day

POP – build sketches of your app
http://popapp.in/

Tim Ferriss’ Daily Use Apps

Evernote
https://evernote.com/
Uber
https://www.uber.com/
Lift
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lift/id530911645?mt=8
Jot Not
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jotnot-scanner-pro-scan-multipage/id307868751?mt=8

Scanner Pro
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scanner-pro-by-readdle/id333710667?mt=8

Cat in the Hat Comes Back
http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Comes-Back-Classic-Seuss/dp/0449810844/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370504834&sr=1-1&keywords=Cat+in+the+Hat+Comes+Back

Sold
http://usesold.com/

Zombie Road Trip
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.noodlecake.zombieroadtrip

Jacked – The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1455130346/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1455130346&linkCode=as2&tag=offsitoftimfe-20

Foodist is awesome
http://www.amazon.com/Foodist-Science-Weight-Without-Dieting/dp/0062201255/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370505352&sr=8-1&keywords=foodist

As is the author
http://summertomato.com

Darya’s guest post on this blog
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2013/05/01/family-fat-loss-foodist/

L-Lysine
http://www.amazon.com/Source-Naturals-L-Lysine-1000mg-Tablets/dp/B001G7R554/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1370505098&sr=8-3&keywords=L-Lysine
Tim takes 2 grams per divided dose as immune support

Grape Seed Extract
http://www.amazon.com/Grapefruit-Seed-Extract-Liquid-Concentrate/dp/B000M8HQD4/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1370505201&sr=8-5&keywords=grape+seed+extract

Fish Taint? At minute 29:00.

Google Book Pixel
https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=chromebook_pixel_wifi

Imitation Daft Punk Helmets
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MoguaiProps

BitCoin
http://bitcoin.org/en/

OpenCoin
http://opencoin.org/

M-Pesa – 3rd party payment via SMS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa

The Biography of a Dollar
http://www.amazon.com/Biography-Dollar-Mighty-Conquered-World/dp/0307339874/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370506447&sr=8-1&keywords=the+biography+of+a+dollar

A Smart Drugs Birthday Present (“My cat has dementia”)

Alertec (A.K.A. Modafinil)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modafinil

Female Viagra
http://www.emotionalbrain.nl/lybrido

Anacervx – Increasing Cognition
http://www.antiaging-systems.com/41-anacervix-vincamine-concentration
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincamine

Tim discusses pros vs. cons of smart drug use:
52:00

Desmopressin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmopressin

Artichoke extract + Forskolin
http://www.amazon.com/Now-Foods-Relora-Veg-capsules-120-Count/dp/B0019LTGRW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1370507599&sr=8-2&keywords=Forskolin+now

http://www.amazon.com/Solaray-Artichoke-Extract-300-capsules/dp/B00014FMKI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370507583&sr=8-1&keywords=Artichoke+extract+solaray

Cozy
https://cozy.co/

WWDC
https://developer.apple.com/wwdc/

Intermittent Fasting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_fasting

Fasting Twins
http://www.youtube.com/user/fastingtwins

Athletic Greens
https://www.athleticgreens.com/v4/

MSG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate
http://summertomato.com/?s=msg

Rubber Guard in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_guard

“How do you organize your life?”
Backblaze
http://www.backblaze.com/

Google+
http://www.google.com/+

Everything Scanned and Stored to Evernote
https://evernote.com/

Delectable App (Wine)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/delectable-wine/id512106648?mt=8

Trader Joe’s wine are generally fantastic
http://www.traderjoes.com/

Upcoming Events

Ignite Expo
http://ignitemag.ca/be_expo_2013

Founders Conference
http://f.ounders.com/

Dublin Web Summit
http://www.websummit.net/

This short post was inspired by an email.

John Heltzel, who’s on the non-profit board of Hand in Hand Parenting, sent me the following:

I was recently having dinner at Los Altos Grill with a CEO. He lamented that he travelled a lot and was having trouble re-connecting with his kids when he returned. I said: “When you get home, take out your iPhone, set the timer for 10 minutes, and say ‘you are now the boss for the next 10 minutes’ and see what happens.”

He wrote me back: “I did the ’10-minute boss’ exercise with my kids yesterday. They loved it. First started with ‘Get me some Skittles’ and then ‘Play school with us.’ Thanks for the tip!”

I’d love to hear from readers on other simple tricks for keeping connected to kids. As a some-day parent and driven person, it seems like the little things are the big things.

What do you think?

Second, Sports Doping

I was recently asked by The Next Web “[In the future]… will winning in sports be determined by technology?”

Here is my answer:

I would go so far as to say that nearly ALL future record-breaking athletics will depend on technology. This assumes we broadly define ‘technology’ as innovative tools for solving problems… like normal limitations of the human body. The 1980′s were the ‘golden age’ of steroids, which partially explains the records during that period. Moving forward, athletes’ coaches will use better tracking for Moneyball-like approaches to incremental gains; they’ll also use advances in medical and black-market biotech for massive gains.

The human body hasn’t evolved much over last 100 years for Olympic weightlifting or sprinting, right? This can be overcome a few ways: better scientific selection from massive populations (e.g. current day China, Cold War USSR), gene doping, cutting-edge medical treatment for faster recovery from injuries (Platelet-Rich Plasma injections, etc.), mechanical advantage (e.g. compression suits for swimming), and tweaking systems largely neglected in a sometimes anabolics-myopic arena (think acetylcholine optimization for 50-meter sprints). At the highest levels of power- or endurance-dependent sports, *everyone* is doping in some capacity, whether using EPO injection (banned) or high- altitude simulation tents (100% allowed but expensive, and the effects are nearly identical).

The options they choose are determined simply by how rich or poor they and their countries are. There is no such thing as a level playing field. Never has been and never will be.

Competitors with $1,000,000+ bonuses from big brands will always have more resources than the drug testers. It’s an easy game to beat…

[Read the full article here, including answers from others.]

This post is an experiment. I’m calling it “Feel Good Friday.”

There’s enough bad news in the world, so let’s spread a little optimism…

Since May 13th, you have directly helped 21,559 high-need public school students in the US. In fact, in the last few years, we (the community on this blog + me) have directly funded classroom projects for nearly 200,000 students (!!!).

Below are some of the teacher thank-you’s, which I think you’ll enjoy.

And one more thing:
THERE ARE STILL 3 DAYS LEFT IN OUR COMPETITION!

It’s anyone’s game to win. The prize is roundtrip airfare to a leisurely dinner with me and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. We can discuss anything you want, including business. If you’re interested in winning a seat (four (4) people will win), here are the rules.

If you’d simply like to donate $1 and feel great, click on my giving page here and choose a project you love.

Have a great weekend, all. Letters below…

Teacher Thank-You Letters

(From Engineering in the Classroom)

My class and I are so grateful for your generous donations. I teach in a middle school… My STEM class is learning about technology and engineering, and how these areas are not a distant and futuristic dream, but a reality… Girls normally shy away from engineering and technology, erroneously rationalizing that it is a boy’s field; the STEM class is opening their minds and piquing their curiosity in these areas.

The balloon helicopters will open their knowledge of Newton’s Law of Motion and aeronautics. The Solar Transformers will teach them about solar energy. The rocket launcher will introduce them to rocketry, measuring height and velocity. All this made possible by caring people like you.

With gratitude,

Mrs. Granado

(From Fit for Life)

I am so excited to share the good news that my DonorsChoose project, “Fit for Life” has been fully funded. I would like to express my appreciation to each donor for your generosity and support of my students. Your contributions to this project show your support not only of my students, but of the ideals of health and fitness and the importance of lifestyle in overall health.

I look forward to the new school year and the opportunity to see my students use this equipment to raise their awareness of their levels of health, and to encourage them to adopt a healthy, active lifestyle!

Thanks again!

With gratitude,

Mrs. Smith

(From Power Tools for Engineering)

Thank you so much for contributing to our engineering program at Da Vinci Science. These tools will allow our students to create more professional, high quality projects. Furthermore, it will allow more of our students to be involved in the actual construction process because we will have more tools available to them.

…Donorschoose and your donations have made it possible to build projects that we never dreamed of. Thanks again!

With gratitude,

Mr. McGregor

(From Keep Us Moving, Keep Us Learning)

I am overwhelmed with joy and appreciation that you helped to make my project a reality. Thank you for helping make a difference in the lives of my students. The physical education equipment you have funded will allow me to plan more engaging lessons for my students during structured recess and P.E. The resources will be used for years to come with my students.

I can’t wait to start having my students use their new equipment. Once again thank you for your kindness.

With gratitude,

Mrs. Peralta

Donor Comments

· “I’ve given to this project because when I was a kid, I got a microscope for christmas and it changed my life forever. When other kids played ball, I was making slides to see the cell structure differences between plants and animals. Learning is an excellent journey and everyone should have every opportunity and encouragement to pursue their dreams!”
– James from Idaho

· “I believe physical fitness is a cornerstone of a good life — it contributes to health, productivity, and happiness.”
– Sameer Jain

· “We have a shortage of students that understand and are stimulated by engineering concepts. Engineering is critical to the infrastructure of the United States and we need to encourage its growth. Thank you.”
– Kenji from California

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Want to grab dinner with Alexis Ohanian and me? Here’s how you can.